The present invention relates to a semiconductor laser having a short resonator length and to an optical integrated circuit including at least one semiconductor laser of such type.
A conventional semiconductor laser fabricated as a discrete device usually has a length and a width of about 200 .mu.m to 400 .mu.m and a current path stripe width of about 2 .mu.m to 13 .mu.m. Due to this bulky structure, and its corresponding large power consumption, the conventional semiconductor laser is not suitable for use in an integrated circuit. Even if it were so used, it would be impossible to obtain as high an integration density as that obtainable in a conventional integrated circuit. An optical integrated circuit is generally considered impractical unless the integration density and the power consumption thereof are at least at about the same levels as those of a conventional integrated circuit.